Blue, Blue my world is blue

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It seems it is the season of blues I am going through.  Everywhere I look, I see the colour blue. Why does life look bluish to me? Blue skies. Blue moods. Blue thoughts. Blue dreams Blue feelings.

Even when i listen to the song, Blue, Blue, My Love is Blue, A beautiful soothing song about love, I can feel myself going blue.

Blue.

The word blue is associated with such a cheerful and peaceable colour. A calming colour. We feel soothed when we see the blue skies and the oceans. And yet,  we associate it with sadness and gloominess, depression and being in the dumps. Hence, we use the term feeling blue or getting the blues.Why is it so? Some common phrases we use are

• Feeling blue, Blue devils – feelings of depression
• The blues (not capitalized) – depression, state of sadness
• Baby blues – post-partum depression
• Singing the blues – Crying about one’s sorrows
• Monday Blues- Blues on a Monday

Why do we call it the blues? Contrary statement. Something which is so calming and soothing can in extremes have a depressing effect. Likewise, other colours may also exhibit such traits.Our responses to colours can  be thought of in measure due to two possible reasons:

1. Psychologists say that color can profoundly influence our moods and emotions and our physiological reactions.

2. Cultural biases can also influence our reaction to a certain colour or shade. For example, saffron is a colour typically sacred to hindus and used in religious customs, which can invoke negative feelings in those who do not follow hinduism and who may find the colour aggressive.  The white colour may symbolise  purity in one culture and mourning in others. These cultural predilections can thus train our mind to perceive and react in specific ways.

Because of the importance of colours in our daily life, in our relationships, our behaviour, in the natural world, there is even a field devoted to the psychology of color. Based on the impact and influence of colours, they are grouped into warm and cool colours.

Warm colours invoke feelings of warmth and positivity in you, exuberance. Pink is light and feminine. Red denotes passion. Orange is positivity and exuberance In excess , aggressiveness, anger, rage, passion, and so on. Cool colours are calm, soothing, relaxing and in excess they may create feelings of depression and so on.

Hence, you can see, why dressing in different shades, may influence our moods and why you can see suggestions of specific colours for different temperaments. Hence, One can also understand how dressing and clothes can influence the sort of impression one creates in social environments. Of course, one cannot credit all human behaviors to colours. That would be a colossal exaggeration.

Think about the colors you see around you. which influences you?  positively, negatively? Isn’t it interesting? In next few posts will be dedicated to different colours..

In the meantime, look out for the blues in your life. Keep the positivity. Enjoy the blissful blues without going BLUE

Cheerios..

Related articles

• Colour-Coded Inspiration – Blue (thedesigntabloid.com)
• Colours (thedistinctdot.com)
• Brown-Eyed Blues (urbanetiquette.wordpress.com)
• Hot colour for 2012 is … (thestar.com)
• Are you feeling blue this January? (newsviews.co.uk)
• Got the blues? There’s a reason! (ridingwiththetopdown.wordpress.com)
• http://psychology.about.com/od/sensationandperception/a/colorpsych.htm

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~ by terriblethinker on January 20, 2012.